Destined To Be Queen
by BLAZE r e q u i e m
Summary: I was born to it, raised from the cradle. I would not be denied this, my Fate, my Wyrd. I would give anything to obtain my rightful rank. Because I was destined from the start. This is my story. Diana-centric. Oneshot.


**A/N:** This was in my notebook for so long, and I've finally just gotten around to post it. As the title says, it's about Diana, who I think is incredibly depressing. But that just might be 'cause writing in her POV is depressing.

I have taken 'artistic liberty' with this, due to the fact that only a little information about Diana and Dorothy's past is available.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own MAR. And never will.

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**Queen**

Because Destiny cannot be adverted

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I was born Diana, daughter of Aoife. I was beloved by everyone, a true people's princess. I excelled at everything. Magic, the Arts, I was skilled at them all, as benefited a member of my rank. My parents were almost royalty, and there was nothing that I could not have. Everything I wanted was within my grasp, I only had to ask.

Rarely did someone deny me what I wanted. How could they? I was the daughter of two of the most influential people in Caldia. Once someone denied me something, I coveted it, until it was in my possession. I _deserved_ everything I wanted. I _deserved_ pretty clothes, jewels, rare ARM.

I had many playmates, all of them children from other families. They were kind to me, in a way. They never said no to anything I came up with, and I was the undeniable leader of my group. My mistake was believing they were here because they loved me. I was eight when I found out.

I was walking down a street, when I heard raised voices. Being a curious child, I ducked down and peeked around the wall, into the alley.

"Mama! I don't wanna play with Diana! She's stupid, and ugly, and a spoiled rich brat!" A girl yelled at her mother. I recognized her as Karin, one of my "closest" companions, albeit from a middle-class family. Her mother slapped her.

"I don't care what you want," she hissed, "You'll do what's good for the family! If playing with Aoife's get gets our family into their good graces, then you'll worship the ground she walks on!"

I was stunned, to say the least. Right then, there was nothing I wanted more than to sink into the ground, and forget any of this happened. Karin's betrayal brought suspicion into my life. What if none of the other children liked me either? What if they were all forced to play with me and pretend to like me?

Shock and hurt passed away quickly, to be replaced by anger and hatred. How _dare_ they use me. How _dare_ they treat me like a tool; I, who was of the Royal Families of Caldia. I vowed then that I would be alone, and never trust again.

Days went by. I dismissed all of my playmates on the pretence that one of them stole from me and that I could no longer trust them. If they could lie and be untrue, then I would exact my revenge.

_Now who's using who?_ A faint smile played over my face as I envisioned them going, crestfallen, to explain to their ambitious mothers and fathers why they no longer had my favour.

As I no longer had playmates, I spent my time exploring the ancient and magical land of Caldia. It was common enough, for adventurous children to wander the continent. As we were taught to use the Dimension ARM: Andata from a young age, we could wander to our heart's content, and return home for the evening. This suited me well.

One day, when I returned from the day's journey, I was greeted by my old Nurse. She was beaming happily, and looked so pleased with herself, even though her news didn't have anything to do with herself.

"Oh, Ojou-sama!" She exclaimed, "You are blessed, blessed indeed! You have a sister!" My jaw dropped at that. Never had I imagined the reason Mother never ventured out was because she was having a _baby_. My second thought was that this was one person who would never betray me. She would love me, and become my most faithful servant. I loved her already.

To my displeasure, I could not meet my younger sibling, who Mother had named Dorothy, after her grandmother. It wasn't until the second month of her life that I thought of using my status to gain entry to Mother's room. I walked, head held up high, up to the guards placed at the door and demanded imperiously to be let into the room _this instant_. The guards exchanged glances before slowly opening the door.

Mother welcomed me, but gestured for me to be silent, as Dorothy was sleeping. I slipped up to her crib and peered in. She was such an adorable creature; I couldn't help but giggle and clap my hands in delight. Mother stood up and gently placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Be a good role model to Dorothy-chan, Diana." She said gently. "Be kind and gentle to your sister, and teach her everything you know."

She passed away four months later. Father was beside himself with grief, and stayed in his room for hours at a time, wallowing in his sorrow. Slowly, it seemed, Dorothy grew up. I was there, substituting for Father, when she took her first steps. My name was the first words she uttered. She hated to be away from me for any long period of time, and I was only along when she slept.

I understood her actions. I was the only blood relation she had, as Father almost never made appearances at meals. When he did, little Dorothy-chan was paraded in front of him, before she was allowed to sit down next to me. When Father turned up at a meal, we ate in silence. Dorothy hated these dinners and secretly, I did as well.

Many widows were happy that my beloved Mother was dead. They thought that they could capture Father's heart and his fortune, but Father loved Mother too much to even think of taking another wife, and I did not have to endure a jealous step-mother.

When I turned twelve, I learned about Tom, although I didn't know it was him at the time. I had wandered into a village near the Floating Palace of Caldia. I did not meet him, nor did I see him with my own eyes. It was by eavesdropping on two women that I heard of him.

"Did you hear, did you hear?" the first one said to her neighbour, excited to have a piece of gossip to share. "Someone broke into _that_ place."

"_No._" The other woman widened her eyes, scandalized. Until then, I had been listening idly. What could be so interesting, I had wondered.

"Oh, _yes._ And that's not the best part: It was—" She froze and swivelled around to look at me. Due to my fascination with the subject, I'd accidentally leaned out of my hiding place, and into view. "O-oh, good day, Diana-sama." She smiled and bowed to me.

I bowed back, as a princess to an older woman. She smiled at my actions and gave me an apple from her basket, along with a straw doll 'for the princess Dorothy". I accepted the offering and thanked her, the earlier conversation forgotten. Dorothy loved the doll, but not as much as the ones I made for her.

When she was six, I gave her the doll Pinnocion. She loved the thing, but as children frequently do, she broke it within a week. When she brought the crippled thing to me, I seethed with anger. How _dare_ she treat something _I_ created with such lack of care! I would have struck her had I not remembered Mother's words. Instead, I took the toy from her and mended it. When I returned it to her, she flushed with joy and threw her arms around me. Over the years, I created many more dolls for Dorothy, all of them broken at least once. And so another year went by.

I was fifteen and she seven when Father finally died of a broken heart. We grieved, as good daughters should, but deep inside, I was relieved. No longer was his shadow looming over my shoulder; no longer was I confined. Finally, I was free.

Time went by. Five years seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. I was finally of age, and could become the Head of my family, as the oldest heir. The Elder thought differently. I was to be passed over in favour of my distant cousin, who had just come of age. He though to grant this boon to the clumsy buffoon, and to deny me my heritage. I was livid with rage.

No longer in control, I began to wander, in the hopes of finding something to occupy my time. It was then that my mind drifted to that day years ago, when I had heard rumours of a mysterious room. With that thought in mind, I began to seek such a room, but in secret. If some boy could find the room, then why not I?

I searched far and wide, in every nook and cranny. Dorothy, the most observant of us all, noticed my preoccupation. I began spending valuable time with her, to distract my clever sister. For she was clever, almost as clever as I had been. It was almost expected for someone of the same blood as I.

Finally, a year later, I found it. I gently touched the ornate door, and it swung silently open. I found myself in an empty room. There were no gold and jewels, nor was there the rarest of ARM. Instead, there was a small object in the center of the room. Unlike the last to enter, I remembered to close the door. I made my way to the center of the room, where a swirling orb sat upon a cushion. I kneeled down, to better examine my prize.

_Queen…Queeeen_, I heard. I looked around the room and frowned, as there was no one there. _My Queeen…precious Queeeen…_

"Who's there?" I had demanded of the breathless voice. _Come cloosser…_ I leaned closer and reached out to the orb.

It sang to me. It told me how humans, greedy humans, were polluting the world. How they were destroying everything, and how they world had to be cleansed, purged of the rot of humanity. I did not believe. Although I knew of the treachery and deceit that were the very roots of human nature, although I saw with my own eyes the depth of human cruelty, I did not believe. To my credit, I had never explored outside of Caldia, never met the simple people who lived outside our blessed land.

So the Orb proposed I travel. Travel to new lands and see how the rest of MAR Heaven lived. I agreed, but it was impossible: none had been allowed to leave in over a century. There would be no passage for me.

Again, the Orb gave me a suggestion. "Rescue Tom," it said, "He is what you need to break out of this cage, Queen Diana. He alone can help you turn your back on your homeland, he alone can understand what you went through. Remember his past, remember that his parents slew themselves rather than kill their beloved son. He alone can help."

My faith wavered. It was true that I could not grow, confined as I was. It was true that all the others expected of me was to raise Dorothy. I could not, would not, bow down to them. I was born to be a Queen, the Orb prophesied, and I _would_ become one, whether by their hand or my own.

I wanted freedom, and the though that it would not be given to me willingly made it all the more precious to me. I, Diana, Firstborn of Aoife, would have whatever I wanted.

So I waited patiently and plotted. I gathered near thirty-score ARM, and waited. I obtained everything I needed to survive, and waited. Finally, I made my way down into the depths of the dungeon.

He was there, the poor boy. Alone and locked up for ten years. I would have seemed like an angel to him—an avenging angel. I explained everything, as the Orb bid me to do so. He pledged service to me.

I broke him out of the dungeon and took him with me. In the time it took for the guards to realize he'd gone, and it was a long time before they visited, Tom helped me gather ten-score more ARM. I was but two and twenty when I turned my back on Caldia forever. I do not regret my decision.

For months we wandered MAR Heaven, and I learned. The humans were powerless and ignorant. Selfish. Envious. Spiteful. Just as the Orb had believed, they were rotten to the core.

One day, we chanced upon Lestava, beautiful Lestava. That was when I realized my destiny. Lestava was the heart of MAR Heaven. A Lestavian queen was a queen amongst queens. As fate would have it, they had no queen. She was dead for two years, leaving behind a daughter and a husband who would do anything for his child.

I, with the bluest Caldian blood running through my veins, would become the queen of queens.

The king was smitten with my beauty, and we were wed within the month. I was the perfect wife and queen. I was kind and gentle. Majestic. Royal. The people loved me, and how could they not? I was born to be loved and worshipped.

Gold, jewels, nothing was denied to me. I coveted my belongings, for _my_ possessions must be finer than that of an ordinary queen. The child, Snow, adored me, and as she reminded me of my dear sister—Dorothy would be thirteen the following year. I wondered when the Elder would send her after me—so I spent long hours with her. My compassion was not unrewarded. Many, many times she scampered up to me and regaled me with tales of another world, one in which she was a child named 'Koyuki'. At first I believed these were flights of fancy, but after a while I realized she spoke the truth. My mind flew back towards a tale I heard when I was a child, where the Dimension ARM: The Gatekeeper Clown brought a human to this world, where he was a hero. I began to scheme.

I named my faithful servant 'Phantom', for the leader of my army could not be an ordinary 'Tom', and blessed him with unending life. He was sent to gather my army, and it was two years before I saw him again.

When he returned, he announced that the honour of naming my army he had saved for me alone. My mind cast back to a day in Caldia. Mother was teaching me a game, a game of war. How fitting, I thought. Chess, they called it, and so I named them.

**Thus the Chess no Koma were born.**

They rampaged over MAR Heaven, lighting the fires of war. They followed my instructions through First Knight Phantom, killing and slaying. Drawing attention to themselves. And so MAR Heaven burned.

When the first notice came, I was flushed and angry with the best of the warriors, and as shocked as everyone around me, although for a different reason. It took _this_ long for my militia to be noticed? The humiliation was devastating. The people rejoiced, for they believed they were under the servitude of a warrior queen. They didn't know how right they were.

When the second came, I alone gathered Lestava's forces. The King, fool that he was, I placed in the darkest, dampest dungeon, and blamed his disappearance on the Chess. It was true, in a way. I named them the Cross Guard and dispensed the leftover ARM I brought. Then I sent them into battle against the Chess.

My hand was the one that gave the soldier Alan the Gatekeeper Clown. The Otherworlder was summoned, proving the legendary myth true. I watched from behind the scenes as he and Phantom felled each other. I did not betray myself, even as they sealed him and his ARM Babbo away. Peta, his loyal friend and lieutenant, took up the mantle of leadership. Slowly, painfully, he rebuilt the Chess. Six long years it took him, but his resolve never wavered. His loyalty was remarkable.

I was their commander, the power behind the throne. I was their Queen, ruthless and cold. I felt nothing.

But that was not so. I was not entirely heartless. I dreaded the day when she would come. I knew Dorothy. She was the only one of my blood, and by the ancient law of Caldia, the one to kill me. I knew that when the time came, one of us would destroy the other.

But that would not happen for a long time. I continued to gather ARM for my army. I watched and waited as Snow grew up, as she escaped my net. The dog, Edward, mistrusted me. He saw a shadow of the truth, and coaxed the princess to flee. It was an irritating problem, but not one that could not be resolved.

I felt it when someone summoned the Otherworlder. A day after his arrival, the ARM Babbo was unsealed. My anticipation was unmatched, except for Peta's. For Babbo and Phantom were connected, and the freeing of one meant the eventual release of the other. The Second War would begin, and this time I would become victorious. This time, I would rule both worlds.

**-:0:-Q-:0:-U-:0:-E-:0:-E-:0:-N-:0:-**

_I struggle to breathe as I plummet towards the floor, my wings gone. I feel a dull sensation as my body slams into the cold, cold floor._

"_Two worlds…" I gasp, "I so wanted them…" Dorothy reaches out at me. I see she is crying._

"_Onee-chan…" She says softly._

"_It's been so long…since I was called that…" I murmur. The lights seem to dim, and I cannot feel my legs. Even so, I want her to understand._

"_The King will explain…that I am right…" I manage. Speech is getting harder, but I force myself to continue. I do not want to leave Dorothy alone without her having understood. Slowly I lift my hand and tug my mask off._

_I feel my soul fleeing, so I smile sadly, and reach out for her._

"_But you know, Dorothy? I never stopped loving you…" The last thing I feel is a drop of wetness on my cheek._

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**A/N:** Review please! I would love to hear what you think about this. If I made any mistakes with the ages (I confused myself to death), please tell me so I can fix it.

Ceridwen Inari


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